Groan. Surely should be dropping SOME feeds by now?

[woopsidaisy]

Hi.
I did ask about amount of bf DS3 was having ages ago. Apparently it was normal, and he would settle eventually. He is nearly 7 months now.
He started weaning at 6 mo. He just has what I have. Doesn't really like the spoon so uses fingers-not too much going in! :)
But he is STILL feeding at least 6 times a night. And more like 10 most nights. He won't take a bottle which my other DSs did. They were on formula bottles by 6mo.
The lack of sleep is killing me. Plus he is teething now too like mad. He already has 2 but 3 must be nearby.
I CAN'T keep doing this at night.
How can I get him to go longer at night? PLEASE don't say this too shall pass....I may have to smash summat!

Has he ever been checked for tongue tie woop? Doody, can't remember your previous posts.

Sorry not doody. Must try not to Mn whilst watching masterchef, obviously the 2 don't mix!

how much is he having at night? if they are just little feeds (and they must be if it is 6 or 10 times a night!), it sounds like a sleep association (ie he has learned he needs a feed to get back to sleep) rather than genuine hunger.

controlled crying might teach him how to go to sleep by himself without a feed but of course you may not want to do that.. Does he have a dummy? comforter? have you tried co sleeping ...?

Thanks for the replys. Never been checked for tongue tie. But I think he is too settled for that?
Yes, it could be a sleep association thing, but I don't think I could do cc...he will not take a dummy.
He is in cot in his room, but I usually bring him into mine in early hours as so tired. He isn't any better in with me either-boob on tap! Plus he keeps trying to bite my fingers when teething.
So it isn't the norm to feed this often at 7 months then? Hv was hoping weaning would help....maybe I need to get more food in?

It might be worth looking into tongue tie. Have a read of this and if any of it sounds familiar, maybe go along to a local bfing group?

If he is waking so often in the night, and you think more calories might help, have you tried bfing more in the day instead of offering more solids?

As for he sleep, have you read 12 alternatives by dr sears and the book Sound Sleep by Sarah Woodhouse might help too.

Thanks JJJ- plenty to look at tonight!

The son of the author of no cry sleep solution fed that much during the night before she implemented changes - have you read that book for any tips?

Agree, the no cry sleep solution helped us with DS but its not a quick fix. Have you seen isis too? It's a good starting point, especially good if you are wanting to make changes.

Hope last night was a little better.

This article by the author of no cry sleep solution has some ideas in it - it might give you some ideas for breaking a feed-to-sleep association.

Thanks so much Ladies. I am going to go through all these links this pm.

No advice but sympathy - my DS is like this. I've so far not tried anything to fix it, and at 10mo (!) he's started showing glimpses of doing it himself, which I'd (obviously) really like. Gah.

Mine is TT though, fwiw, though weight gain never an issue.

My DS would wake lots in the night, so I was feeding him lots in the night simply because my reaction to him waking was to shove a boob in it. This is not the same thing as needing that many feeds in the night. Can you get someone else to settle him every other time he wakes - he probably will settle eventually because he's not going to be hungry that often. If he's not getting fed every time he wakes, he may stop waking so often. Or you may then need to start working on his sleep.

Ds was like this. He did grow out of it but I'm afraid to say it took/ is taking a long time. None of the gentle sleep stuff worked on him. I found changing my attitude and trying to get sleep anyway I could (same bedtime as him every so often, lie-ins etc) helped me get through it.